Why We Care About Jimmy Hoffa

Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa was the stuff of legends — defending the working man, sitting down face-to-face with mafia gangsters, and then, seemingly, disappearing into thin air. It’s no wonder he’s been the inspiration for countless conspiracy theories, books, and pop culture depictions, including the 1992 biopic, “Hoffa.”

But in real life, Jimmy Hoffa's life and death have been stranger than any movie. He was last seen in 1975. And every few years since then, investigations have delved into his disappearance. All of them ended badly. But then, this past week, hope was renewed, when a tipster claimed he knew the final burial place of Hoffa.

In the end, the tip proved false. But in Detroit, and around America, the public imagination is as alive as ever with thoughts of Jimmy Hoffa.

Quinn Klinefelter is senior news editor at WDET. And he lives only a block and a half away from where the latest Jimmy Hoffa dig took place.